Al Saunders

Infobox NFL PlayerCoach


Color=#132456
fontcolor=#B8860B
Name=Al Saunders
Caption=
DateOfBirth=Birth date and age|1947|2|1|mf=y
Birthplace=London, England
DateOfDeath=
College=San Jose State
Southern California
Position=Associate Head Coach - Offense
Awards=
Honors=
Records=
Record=17-22
SuperBowls=
Championships=
DatabaseFootballCoach=SAUNDAL01
PFRCoach=SaunAl0
coach=yes
coachingteams=San Diego Chargers "WR"
San Diego Chargers "HC"
Kansas City Chiefs"AHC/WR"
St. Louis Rams "AHC/WR"
Kansas City Chiefs "OC"
Washington Redskins "AHC"
St. Louis Rams "OC"
coachingyears=1983-1986
1986-1988
1989-1998
1999-2000
2001-2005
2006-2007
2008-Present
HOF=|

Al Saunders (born February 1, 1947) is an American football coach. He is the current Offensive Coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. He was the Associate Head Coach - Offense, the top assistant coach, for the Washington Redskins for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Born in London, England, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1960, and is one of four foreign-born coaches in the NFL. In college played Defensive Back and Wide Receiver for the Spartans of San Jose State University (SJSU) from 1966–1968 where he was a three-year starter, team captain, and an Academic All-American. Saunders also joined Theta Chi Fraternity while at SJSU.

In the 1970s, Al Saunders joined the coaching staff at USC and San Diego State University (SDSU), whose SDSU Aztecs were then under the control of Head Coach Don Coryell. Saunders would go with Coryell to NFL when Coryell became the head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

From 1983–1986, Saunders was the wide receivers coach for the Chargers. He was tapped as the Charger's interim head coach when Coryell resigned during the middle of the 1986 season. Saunders would eventually replace Coryell as the head coach from 1986-1988.

From 1989–1998, Saunders was with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he served as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach under Marty Schottenheimer.

Saunders would then join the St. Louis Rams coaching staff. From 1999-2000 he served as the wide receivers Coach under Dick Vermeil and later as assistant head coach under Mike Martz. During this period, the Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.

Saunders would rejoin the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001 as the offensive coordinator when Vermeil came out of retirement. In his second stint with the Chiefs, Saunders built the NFL's top offense, which was ranked #1 in the NFL from 2002–2005.

On January 19, 2006, he joined the coaching staff of the Washington Redskins as the Associate Head Coach - Offense, reuniting him with fellow Don "Air" Coryell alumnus, Joe Gibbs. At the time, his 3-year, $6 million contract made him the second highest paid assistant coach in the NFL behind Gregg Williams. Players such as recent additions Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd have claimed that the signing of Saunders to the Washington coaching staff was a major pull factor in their decision to sign with the Redskins. In this role, he served the team like he did in Kansas City, as the primary play caller and offensive coordinator.

Saunders offensive playbook reportedly has approximately 700 pages of various plays. When the Redskins struggled offensively in the 2006 pre-season and during the first two regular season games, the lengthy playbook became the subject of criticism -both humorous and serious- by Washington sports media. However, desiring not to provide scouting information to opponents, the Redskins only used a small number of plays (estimated by Saunders at around 2% of his playbook) during the pre-season. Beginning with the third game of the regular season, Washington's offensive production increased but later fell.

Many believe that the pairing of Al Saunders offense and the veteran quarterback Mark Brunell was a bad fit. The Al Saunders offense, an Air Coryell offense, requires a quarterback with a very accurate sense of timing and trust with the receiver which could not be replicated in Washington during Brunell's 2006 season.

In 2007, Jason Campbell dislocated his left knee in a week 14 game versus the Chicago Bears. Veteran back-up Todd Collins, who took over the reigns and was very effective as he led the Redskins to four straight victories and into the playoffs. Collins' success can be attributed to the fact that he had been studying under Saunders' offensive scheme since 2001. After Joe Gibbs retired as head coach of the Redskins on January 8, 2008 and Jim Zorn was hired as the new offensive coordinator by Redskins' owner Dan Snyder on January 25, Saunders was fired by Snyder on January 26.

On January 30, 2008, Saunders was hired as offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams.

External links

* [http://www.redskins.com/team/cprofile.jsp?id=15156 Official Redskins website biography of Coach Saunders]

j